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May 30, 2017

Sunny Summer Stationery from PaperDirect!

Filed under: Seasonal & Special Events Ideas — PDWriter @ 12:50 pm

The sun is shining, the bees are buzzing, and the lemonade is ice-cold. That can only mean one thing – summer has finally arrived!

Take advantage of this bright and cheery season by stocking up on your favorite summer stationery. We’ve pulled a few examples of our favorite summer designs for 2017.

Check them out and stock up for summer!

Watermelon Party Border Paper

Watermelon-Party-Border-Paper-PaperDirect

Perfect for birthday parties, barbecues, outdoor events, and more! Buy it here.

Baja Flip Flop Border Papers

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Perfect for beach parties, summer correspondence, themed office parties, and summer camps. Buy it here.

Balloon Dreams Border Papers

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Perfect for store promotions, team building activities, travel deals, award ceremonies and more! Buy it here!

Paper Lanterns Border Papers

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Perfect for evening events, silent auctions, company retreats, product launches and more! Buy it here.

Sweet Summer Border Papers

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Perfect for networking events, golfing events, summer seminars, and ice cream socials! Buy it here.

No matter the event or industry you’re planning for, PaperDirect has the summer stationery supplies to make it the most memorable event of the season.

Check out our entire selection of PaperDirect border paper today!

May 25, 2017

Flyer Ideas For The Company Picnic

Filed under: Designing Your Invitation — PDWriter @ 9:28 am

Flyer Ideas For The Company Picnic-PaperDirect

Over the course of the next few months, business owners and managers across the country will host countless company picnics to celebrate the hard work and dedication of their team. However, most of these company picnics will be low on attendants – doomed to fail from the moment an employee sees the drab flyer and decides not to drag his or her family out to such a seemingly boring event.

Whether you realize it or not, your company picnic’s flyer says a lot about the event you’re planning to throw. Advertising on a template you simply printed on the office printer isn’t going to convey the right sense of excitement that you want to generate for your next company outing. To get the buzz going from the beginning, make sure to follow these tips for creating the best company flyer possible.

Make Sure to Use the Right Paper

Printing your flyer out on regular printer paper, or even low-grade colored paper is a mistake. Let your employees know that you’re going all out with this year’s company picnic by printing your flyer on high grade, richly colored paper. Details like this matter.

Use More Than One Font …

Don’t stick to the same font throughout your flyer. Mix it up to keep your readers entertained. That being said, make sure the pertinent details (contacts, time, and location) are printed clearly and prominently.

Don’t Use Comic Sans or Times New Roman

It’s a real graphic design no-no. Comic Sans looks like a kid drew on your company form with a crayon and Times New Roman is too stiff and formal to be anything but boring.

Don’t Forget to Highlight the Events

Make sure you’re giving your staff a reason to attend your company picnic. If there’s going to be free food and fun games, say so! Organizing activities to keep kids entertained? Explain what they are. You can even use the flyer to enlist ideas and event volunteers.

Don’t Be Afraid of Pictures or Exclamation Points

Remember, you aren’t sending out a corporate memo. It’s okay to use the dreaded exclamation point in your company flyer. In fact, when you first mention your event, do so in big, bold letters and kick things off with a nice, friendly exclamation point!

A Great Flyer Begins and Ends with PaperDirect

Don’t rely on your office printer to create the most effective flyer possible. At PaperDirect, you can customize the perfect flyer with ease; then we’ll print it out on the highest quality paper before ensuring the finished product arrives in your office in ready-to-post condition.

May 19, 2017

Staying in Touch With Your Pen Pal over the Summer

Filed under: Helpful Resources — PDWriter @ 9:00 am

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Just because the school year has ended doesn’t mean you have to lose touch with your buddies. You can stay in touch with your in-person friends by transforming them into penpal friends.  While pen pals aren’t as common as they once were, they remain a terrific way to maintain a strong and solid connection through the art of letter writing.

Check out some tips on how to stay in touch, topics to discuss, and how to find a new pen pal if needed.

How to Stay in Touch

Setting up an agreement with your penpal friends can help keep the letters flowing and the relationship strong. Writing one letter per month to each other is a totally do-able schedule, although you can certainly agree to write as many letters to each other as you wish.

Figure out how you’ll kick off the connection, either with one person writing the first letter and the other person responding, or both agreeing to send out a letter by a certain date. Make sure you exchange addresses before you part for the summer so you’re both prepared to get the ball rolling.

Make the letter writing even more fun by stocking up on creative letter-writing supplies. These can include:

  • Paper: Plain white paper can be so bland, especially when PaperDirect has so many colored paper options just waiting to brighten the day for both of you.
  • Envelopes: Colorful envelopes are another cool option, and you can jazz them up even further with self-inking stamps or stickers.
  • Postage stamps: Get a batch of festive postage stamps that will last all summer.
  • Pens: Stock up on a few fabulous pens and markers to help your letters stand out even more.

What to Talk About

So what should you guys write about? You have tons of fresh and exciting options that go far beyond the same old stuff you chat about during the school year. You can talk about:

  • Summer vacations – where you’re going, where you’ve been in the past, your best and worst vacations.
  • Summer activities – your all-time favorites, least favorites, and what’s in store this year.
  • How you spend your days – real-life versus what you wish you could be doing instead.
  • Plans and goals for the upcoming school year.
  • Lessons you’re learning, either by choice or through mistakes (oops!).
  • The highlight and lowlight of each month, week or day, and why each item was a highlight or lowlight.
  • Your favorite and least favorite – movies, summer fashions, places to go, TV shows, music, summer memories, school year memories, or anything else that strikes your fancy. You can even include a “Top 5” and “Worst 5” list in each of your letters, picking a different subject each time around.

Keep the conversation alive by asking your penpal friends to respond with the same type of information you shared, and it’s highly unlikely you’ll run out of things to discuss.

How to Find New Penpal Friends

Sometimes even the best letter-writing intentions can fizzle out, and you may find you want or need a new pen pal. Finding new penpal friends isn’t all that tough, as long as you know where to look.

  • Relatives or friends of friends, especially those that live in different states or countries.
  • People you meet on vacations.
  • Connections from people in groups you belong to, like your soccer team, your art club, or your writers group.
  • Facebook Groups, with a search for “pen pal kids” to find groups that connect penpal friends.
  • Websites that help with pen pal connections, such as StudentsOfTheWorld.

Whether your summer is spent deepening your relationship with your school year friends or getting to know new ones, being a pen pal is a great way to do it and PaperDirect is here to help.

May 10, 2017

DIY Mother’s Day Poem, Card and Gift Ideas

Filed under: Seasonal & Special Events Ideas — PDWriter @ 11:02 am

DIY-mothers-day-poem-card-gift-ideas-PaperDirect

Moms are a special breed indeed, so it’s only right to give them the recognition they deserve by honoring them on Mother’s Day. One of the most magnificent ways to honor mom is with DIY Mother’s Day poems, cards, certificates, or other gifts that come with a truly personal touch.

Mother’s Day Poems

Roses are red, violets are blue, make sure you tell mom what she means to you—and you don’t have to do it with a cheesy poem. You can instead create any number of clever Mother’s Day poems with a few simple tricks.

Make a number poem list: Pick her age, your age, or your mom’s favorite number, and then write a sweet list of X reasons she’s the best mom on earth. You may end up having so much fun that you’ll want to create an entire page of numbered Mother’s Day poems.

Write a poem using letters of her name: Write your mother’s name, or the words “mother” or “mom” vertically down the left side of the page. Then have each line of your poem start with each of the letters. If your mom’s name is Marcy, for example, your poem could read something like:

Magically sweet

Always on time

Ready for action

Compassionate and kind

You are the best mom in the world!

Mother’s Day Cards and Certificates

When it comes to Mother’s Day greeting cards and certificates, you can give yours a professional edge by using a ready-made template. Simply find a layout you like at online shops like PaperDirect, then choose your colors, fonts, images, photos, and other available options to personalize to your heart’s content.

Your card can be filled with any type of sentiment you like. Mother’s Day certificates that tend to go over well include “Best Mom Ever” and “World’s Greatest Mother.”

Pick an option you can print at home, and you can have your Mother’s Day card or certificate in mere minutes.

Other DIY Mother’s Day Gifts

Giving mom a break is an excellent Mother’s Day gift that never goes out of style, and you can do exactly that with a number of awesome options.

  • Mother’s Day coupon book: Create a coupon book containing coupons redeemable for breakfast in bed, a night out on the town, or all the chores you’ll do for her when she simply hands over the coupon.
  • Surprise cleaning: Usurp mom’s usual house cleaning ritual by getting to it first. Find a time when she’s out of the house, or have someone take her out shopping or something, then clean the entire abode from top to bottom. She’ll be thrilled when she comes home.
  • Surprise cooking: Same idea as above, but with mom coming home to a home-cooked, gourmet meal. Don’t cook? Order a pizza.

As long as you put your heart into your DIY Mother’s Day gift, it’s bound to be a hit. And any amount of dusting, vacuuming, or laundry that the coupons might make you endure will be well worth the joy it brings the world’s greatest mother. Check out PaperDirect for cards, certificates, and other goodies for Mother’s Day and beyond.

May 2, 2017

Quick Tips for a Workplace Cinco de Mayo Party

Filed under: Seasonal & Special Events Ideas — PDWriter @ 9:00 am
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At least once a year, it’s completely appropriate to break out the sombreros and maracas. Celebrating Cinco de Mayo at the office should become an annual tradition, even if it’s only for one reason: Tacos!

Feeling festive? We are! Here’s how to get your co-workers into the Cinco de Mayo spirit!

Create a South-of-the-Border Vibe

Whether you play cultural music over the office intercom as employees arrive for the day, or schedule a surprise visit from a roaming Mariachi band – you’re sure to kick off the celebration with class! Encourage employees to get up from their desks and dance to the beats!

Host a Sombrero Contest

Everyone loves a little competition, so ask your staff to sport their favorite sombreros (or, any hat will do) for the day. Have everyone cast their vote for their favorite Mexican-theme head wear and present the winner with a special certificate or award just before starting the lunch festivities.

Create a Taco Buffet

There’s no better way to kick off a noon staff meeting than with a taco buffet lunch. Load up on the queso and guacamole, then discuss those sales numbers. Everyone will be feeling a little spicy and ready to share their ideas with the rest of the bunch.

Try Salsa Dancing

If you have a small team, take an afternoon break and learn new dance moves at a local studio. Or, hire a dance pro to come to the office and give a Salsa demo and quick lesson. The impromptu exercise will fire up the team for a productive end to their work day.

Schedule an Afternoon Drink

Break out of that 3pm slump and make a toast to Cinco de Mayo with some fruity virgin margaritas or a bottle of Mexican beer. Pair the drinks with a homemade salsa and chips to keep the snackers in the bunch happy!

Are you ready to let the crew know about the plans for Cinco de Mayo at the office? Stock up on festive paper to post the taco lunch menu and day’s festivities so everyone can get ready to say olé!

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